Misunderstood
by KaySnap55
Summary: Being thrown forward in time wasn't an easy thing. Loosing your first love wans't easy either, and somehow it made it worse that his best friend's son hated him


"Of all the people in this room who is a, wearing a spangly outfit, and b not of any importance?" Steve would never ever admit how much that hurt him to hear that. He'd felt comfortable in his outfit, it felt familier, safe. There was too much that had changed and he just couldn't stand that he was no longer knowledable about anything. He didn't know why, but Steve had been hoping, praying, that Tony was like his father. Howard had recognized that Steve liked science, and after being a part of a science experiment himself, he desperately wanted to learn more about it. In between missions, Howards used to teach him things, teach him about electricity and how much it was advancing so quickly. He taught him about engeneering and he had been about to start teaching him how he made that serum before he got on the god forsaken plane that he flew strait into the ocean. But Howard had taught him the basics, and now that technology was so advanced, Steve had been sure he would be able to find something that he could learn off of.

He had, eventually, found something that had been very similar, and had spent much of his free time, when he wasn't working out, studying the information. He had been hoping that something would trigger a memory and he would be able to remember some of the equation that Howard had told him. He wasn't exactly sure that he wanted shield to have it, but he had wanted to give it to Tony, maybe as a peace offering or something.

Well that idea was down the drain. Most people just assumed he was some stupid solider that just liked to bash heads together. How did they think he formulated plans of attack? How he kept a relatively calm head and could always function under stress? It was kinda insulting that they thought he was some brainless jock.

But no matter how infuriating Stark was, no matter how many jabs he made at him for being an "old man" or wearing a stupid outfit or not being useful, he would defend Stark on the battlefield, becase you don't bringe grudges out in war. That's just not what you do. Because if you have a petty argument with someone, and then in battle ou falter because you're still angry with them, it could be the difference between life or death.

Steve was sitting out at the top of Stark towers in a small alcove he had found that was tucked in between the giant letter A and the building. He was sure that it was probably dangerous and he shouldn't be out there because he could fall and he could fly and blah blah blah. Quite honestly he could care less. Shield would just be upset that they lost their precious super-solider. Besides, someone must have wanted to be able to get out here, because there had been a hallway that led out here.

He was gazing down at a picture of Peggy, he perfect red lips and creamy skin, curly hair that he was dying to run his fingers through. _I _never_ did get that dance._ Sighing, he tucked it back inside his breast pocket, the one closest to his heart. The only times he was able to forget about how much he missed her was during battle. In the adrenaline rush, he could almost imagine that he was fighting back then, 70 years ago, and she would be there afterwords to give him a kiss, to hug him and and say that she was proud of him. Then maybe they would dance and he would manage not to step on her toes too much. Smiling slightly he leaned back, closing his eyes and began to do something he done countless time since he had woken up. Imagine what life could have been like. Imagine the if onlys and could have beens.

_Peggy laughed as he twirled her around in a circle, dipping her low and kissing her sweetly, ignoring the jelous stares from numerous girls around the room. His life was perfect. No more attacks from Hyrda and very few missions lately. He had spent a majority of his time with Peggy, the two of them had gone sightseeing around the world. Whenever they weren't together, Steve was with Howard, learning the ways of all sorts of science, the two had become close friends. Howards was even teaching Steve not to blow things up as much! The lab hadn't been covered in some mysterious substance in weeks! _

_He would fast forward a couple years, and he would be married, Peggy of course. Her hair had grown out, and the once bouncy red curls had calmed to pretty aburn waves. They had a house by the coast, since both of them loved the beach. Two small children ran around the house, twins, and both with her red hair, but his nose and her lips. Their names would be Sasha and Molly, because he had always wanted girls of his own._

_On Sundays after service they would have picnics on the beach, they would swim in the water and maybe even sneak in a lingering kiss or two, brushing away their daughters chours of "ewwwwww!" with gentle smiles._

_Of course his girls would grow up to be beautiful young ladies, and maybe he would even have a little boy, after the girls were aleast 8 though, no more and no less. Maybe they would get a boy, or perhaps they would end up with another girl. Neither, this time they got twin boys, a real handful. Both laughed and said it had to be the serum because neither had any twins in the family. Somehow that didn't bother them, and with four children their lives would be complete. They would grow old together, learning about the new technology and struggling through it together, of course they would have their mishaps, but would always resolve is because they loved each other, and nothing could ever change that._

_He could almost see the two of them sitting on a bench in some sort of park, her red hair eventually turning to grey, but still falling in gentle waves down her back. He of course lost his hair, because that's just what would happen. They would be holding hands, just talking. Maybe it was about their grandchildren, or maybe it was about their friend Howard and his son, Tony, and how the little boy seemed to be a spitting image of the man already._

_If only, if only, if only_

Gulping, Steve relized he had began crying again. Tears slid down his cheeks, and he placed his head in his hands to fight back the sobs that threating to overtake his body. He thought he had cried it all out the first month he had woken up. Aparently not. Looking down, he observed the cars zooming down the busy streets and people hurrying to their next destination. "Why do you hurry?" he whispered. "Slow down, enjoy life, you never know when it might be ripped away from you." He knew he wasn't dead, he was unfortunately very much alive. Part of him had died though, the day he crashed into that water. Part of him had been left behind in his journey to a new time, and Peggy had been a large chunk of that part.

He knew he needed to come to terms with it. No matter how many times he cried, he would never change anything. He knew he probably needed to get out, get away from everything. But all he really wanted to do was talk to her, or Howard, or Bucky…. Anyone. _But that's not going to happen is it?_ He thought bitterly, standing up shakily. Wiping the last tears from his eyes and locking away the pain, he jumped up towards the door, swinging though it and shutting the door firmly behind him.

Judging by his watch, it was lunch time, which ment all the Avengers would be in the kitchen._ No thanks._ Steering his way towards Bruce's floor, he tapped the code into the keypad and wandered into the lab. Bruce had taken up teaching him once he discovered that he was curious and aching to learn. No one else- ok scratch that Natasha probably knew, because she seemed to know everything.

Slipping over to 'his table' he hit a couple buttons and brought up what he was working on. It was the serum. He had hoped that by running some samples on his blood he would be able to figure out what the ingrediants were and hopefully re-create it. And if he did re-create it (very unlikely ) he had no clue what he would do with it. Checking the scans he'd run on his blood, he jjmped when the door to the lab opened. Standing there was a very confused Tony Stark.

"Why are you in Banner's lab Cap? I thought you preferred beating things up then the simple, elegant art of science. What are you doing? Trying to make youself even stronger?" Chuckling at his own joke, he took a swig from his glass. "Why aren't you at lunch Stark?" Steve sighed, shutting down what he was working on. "Oh don't shut it down!" Tony cried gleefully. "I want to see what your working on! Don't worry old man, im sure you're not goig senile yet. Oh well, you might seeing your in a science lab and not a gym, but I digress."

As he reached to bring the notes back up, Steve grabbed his arm. "Please leave my work alone." He requested quietly. Pulling back, Tony smirked. 'What? Are you tring to make like, a time travel machine or something? I mean, I know you miss that Peggy chick but there are plenty of fish in the sea-"

Grabbing Tony around the neck, he smashed him into the wall, breathing heavily, his face flushed red in anger. "Don't you talk about Peggy." He growled. "Dude!" Tony gasped. "What the hell are you- come on man it was a joke!" Gulping for air, he tried desperately to get free, but he didn't have his iron man bracelet on, and he didn't walk around in the suit all the time. "No Stark, its not a joke. Peggy was the women I loved, the women I had to leave because I was trying to protect our country. You woundlt know anything about that you have Pepper, you ahvnt lost her to anything yet. You don't know how damn hard it is to get thrown from one time period into another, to not know anything at all and have to pretty much relearn how to live. You don't know how hard it is to have your best friends son have some unknown grudge against you, and constantly crack jokes about how "out of time" you are-" he roared, tightening his grip on Tony before he relized that his face was turning blue, his hand scrabbling at his neck attempting to pry Steve's large hands off his throat. Fear shone in the young man's eyes and Steve dropped him to the floor, backing away nervously.

After a few moments, Tony stood, massaging his now bruised throat with a shaking hand. Steve stood there, staring down at his fingers, clenching and unclenching them, when he looked up to meet Tony's still slightly scared looking eyes, he backed away, trembling violently. "I didn't- I- I- I didn't want- hurt anyone, I was- I was just-." Casting Tony one more terrified look, he sprinted out the door, heading towards the bottom level, ignoring the rest of the teams' questions and headed strait for his bike, jumping on and zooming off. _Oh my god what was I thinking. What the hell was I thinking! I could have killed him! Killed my best friend's son! Oh god oh_ _Peggy or Howards forgive me please I didn't mean it- I didn't mean to…._

"Stark what the hell happened to you?" Clint demamnded when he finally stumbled downstairs. "I may have unintentionally pissed off Steve."

"And he did that?" Clint swore. "You're an idiot Stark." Natasha commented lightly, sipping her drink smoothly. "Whats that supposed to mean?" he demanded hotly. "It means you probably brought up Peggy and anybody can see that he's been more upset about her then usually lately. You probably deserved that." Mouthing wordlessly, Tony motioned to the bruising around his neck. "He could have killed me!" Fixing him with a glare, Natasha rolled her eyes. "Oh you act like you havnt been in near death situations before. I thought you were stronger then that." She teased. Huffing impatently and crossing his arms, Tony collapsed in a seat. "He'll come back right?" Bruce asked after a few moments quietly. "He will come back." Thor replied confidently. "And if he doesn't, Tony can go find him." Clint decided. Everyone else nodded in agreement. "Wah-" eyes wide, Tony gazed around at his friends. 'What if he tries to kill me again?" he demanded. "Bring the suit." Bruce advised wisely before turning back to his laptop.

Throwing his hands in the air in defeat he turned on his heels and stomped towards his room. "My friends want to kill me." He muttered.

_Why am I so torn up against Peggy today? I don't understand._ Steve traced words on the icy tombstone. _I don't get why-oh_. Closing his eyes, he placed flowers down on her grave._ Of course. This was the day I met Peggy._ Letting out a shaky laugh, he turned her picture over in his hands. His eyes drifted closed, clutching it briefly. Before he knew what was happening, he had drifted off, his head resting against the grave.

"Of course I have to go find him." Tony muttered angrily. "He's a big boy he can find his own way home." Flying over New York, he stopped when he reached a graveyard. "Oh no." He could see Steve hunched up against a tombstone that he presumed to be Peggy's. Swooping down over the desolate place, he touched down softly so he wouldn't wake Steve. Which was completely pointless seeing that shaking him awake was the next thing he began to do.

"Cap. Hey, hey Capsicle. Cap. Steve!" The soldier's eyes flew open and in a split second he was holding Tony up by the neck, _again._ Apon seeing who it was, he dropped the man of iron and stepped away as if he had been burned. "Why did you follow me." He asked softly. "I wish you hadn't."

'We were worried about you." Tony replied harshly. "Why did you just run out like that? And why the hell did you try to choke me?" Gulping, Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "I just- I just snapped. You made that crack about Peggy and-" taking a ragged breath, he looked down at the picture he was turning over in his palms. "This was the day we met, ya know? Atleast I think it is and when you said that I just- I just snapped. Im sorry. Are you ok?"

He was looking at Tony as if he could see through the suit and to the bruises that had formed around his neck. Giving a shaky laugh, Tony brushed it off. "Hey man just a little warning next time ok? And I-I-I' he looked pained. Laying a hand on his shoulder, Captian America gave him a small smile. "I get it. You just weren't thinking. We all do it sometimes, you more then most people." Looking a little insuled, Tony almost gave a smart remark but thought better of it. "Just, please don't make any remarks about Peggy ok? Its bad enough that I woke up in a completely different time, but hearing you talk about her is just-" sighing, he gave a wry grin. "It's torture."

"Just umm, uh one question for you Capsicle." Tony started, "why were you in Banner's lab?"

"Finished your fathers research. Or trying to." Chuckling her stuck his hands in his pockets. "He was teaching me before I, well, before I left, and he never got around to telling me the formula for how he made me so I was trying to relearn. But im not exactly a genius so I kinda ust play around."

They stood in silence for a while, neither of the men speaking. "Well I think I'll head back now-"

"I could help you." Tony interrupted suddenly. "I could help you with the formula." Steve almost brushed him off, almost said no, but one look at Tony's face and he stopped.

It was an odd sight, a face sticking out of a gold and red helmet-mask. But the hurt, confused, look on Tony's face set Steve on edge. Tony never had those feelings. "Yeah sure. Thanks man."

As Tony fired up his suit and Steve jumped on his motorcycle, he cast one last look back at the grave.

"Hey Tony?"

"Yeah Capsicle?"

"I think I'll go out with you guys to the club tomorrow."

A wide grin spread across his face, Tony shot into the sky.


End file.
